9mo ago

Mail carriers reach tentative contract with USPS that includes pay raises and air-conditioned trucks

Some 200,000 mail carriers have reached a tentative contract deal with the U.S. Postal Service that includes backdated pay raises and a promise to provide workers with air-conditioned trucks.

The new agreement, which still needs to be ratified by union members, runs through November 2026. Letter carriers have been working without a new contract since their old one expired in May 2023. Since then they have continued working under the terms of the old contract.

Both the union and the Postal Service welcomed the agreement, which was announced Friday.

69 comments

It's insane they've had to go this long without air conditioned trucks. For an operation that needs to be functional for our society to operate, they really should receive much better pay and conditions.
- I was a mail carrier briefly in 2023. It gets three degrees below Hell in the summer here. It was 110 outside and 125 inside my truck with broken AC that they wouldn’t fix despite the union contract stating the trucks have to be kept in good repair.
  I now work an office job again because I was probably going to drop dead working in those conditions for 10-11 days straight with no day off. Carrying mail - especially on foot like I did - is a brutal job you guys. They deserve this agreement.
  
  And this doesn't apply to a lot of contracted-out rural route carriers, although they often have to provide their own vehicles.
- It's even more insane that they had to negotiate to get them.
- I'm assuming it's partly because of how crazy inefficient A/C is if you're opening your doors/windows every 30 seconds.
  
  Wrongful and workplace deaths are more crazily inefficient and also just morally bankrupt from the getgo. Nobody scrutinizes the defense budget anywhere near the fuckery Republicans have put postal workers thru
  
  Wow, rough! Anyway, you should probably go to therapy to figure out why the fuck you said that out loud, or least spend do some introspection.
  Besides, that’s not how it works. They are places of refuge for mail carriers as much as transportation. If they’re in the country they’ll be doing more driving and in the city they park and walk around with bags before returning to drive to the next area. A/C will help in both situations.
Yeah but 1.3% raises? In this economy? Actual joke. They spent 20 months on this contract negotiation and that's all they give us. The AC in the trucks was already in the works with the rollout of the NGDVs and the Metris vans they're using as holdovers so that's almost pointless.
My coworkers have already stated their displeasure with this contract so the members might vote against it.
- Yeah, they have a weak union. Or one that is a little too cozy with USPS management. Also, air conditioning has been standard equipment in cars for at least 30 years and they had to fight for THAT?
  
  Some states don't require observation of heat stroke risk mitigation for their workers. Getting it into their federal labor contract ensures a) the feature will be required as a functional feature in all their vehicles, and 2. they can't be told not to turn the feature on.
  
  Well we almost voted Renfoe out as president during the last convention for getting a DUI while in a postal vehicle so that tells a lot
- Do the cost of living adjustment mentioned mean inflation + 1.3%? Or is it different?
  
  It's the same thing, cost of living is the inflation raise. We get regular raises every 42 weeks as regular carriers but even those are menial
  
  The deal gives them 1.3% raises in 2023 (retroactive), 2024, and 2025. That's all this article says
Sure, the new trucks look like a Dollar Store version of the Beluga cargo plane but I don't care. They don't require 57 mirrors, have backup cameras, are much more fuel efficient, have A/C, the list goes on! Even the new Metris is a million times better than any LLV or FFV simply for the lack of exhaust you end up breathing.
- The requirements shaped the design. They wanted mail carriers to be able to stand up in the cargo area without having to bend over → tall cargo area and tall doors. High visibility → a large windshield. Along with the options of a BEV or ICE powertrain → duckbill front.
  Personally, I think it's iconic and obviously less of a deathtrap vs the current vehicles.
  
  I really like the look of them. Quirky but functional. I'd love to have one to turn into a camper, since I don't think the ID.Buzz is getting the Westfalia treatment.
- If it’s ugly and gets the job done well, it gets the job done well.
- Why no sit/stand trucks?
  We should have the technology to make a safe sit/stand mail truck. Especially when most of the route is < 15MPH.
  Mail carriers, at least the ones in rural routes and some of the more sparse suburbs, spend a lot of time sitting. That can't be good for them. Even just having the option to stand while working should be doable.
  And they aren't the only ones who could find a benefit to such a design...any sort of last-mile delivery service. Mail, newspaper, milk, packages, etc. Anybody who is either getting in and out frequently or is maintaining a very low speed through most of their route.
1.3% is a pay cut
- 3.9 total though
  
  Inflation is considerably higher, hence the workers lose money over time.
As part of the agreement, all city carriers will get three annual pay increases of 1.3% each by 2025, some of which will be paid retroactively from Nov. 2023. Workers will also receive retroactive and future cost-of-living adjustments.
Oh boy, don't spend that 7 dollars all in one place.
That is one of the silliest looking vehicles I have seen in my entire life, it's fantastic
That Oshkosh jeep design is so fucking ugly. At least it has air conditioning.
- I don't care if it's ugly so long as it's functional. I don't want a situation where they spent millions on a new truck that the post office has to use because it's built in 30 different congressional districts and the lobbyists are all shoving money down the throats of incumbents to keep it operational.
- As always, when people hate some car's design, I love it
  
  You must have ADORED the first generation Ford Ka, then..
  
  I'm with you. It's like a little jeep made of fun and delight.
- I don't hate it, but it's really testing the limits of my "function over form" life philosophy.
  
  Give it a few years. Y'all will get used to it.
- It reminds me of the cowboy 10-gallon hats I saw on cartoons. Whoever the designer was for that vehicle certainly is ... creative
- the left one? Quite ugly yes but seems like really good visibility on the road

69 comments